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Louisiana Man Celebrates Million Mile Toyota Tundra

Sometimes our vehicles become an integral part of our lives, serving as an extension of who we are. This was certinately the case for Louisiana native Victor Sheppard and his beloved 2007 Toyota Tundra. He racked up a million miles on the truck, the first of its kind assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in San Antonio, Texas.

When news of Sheppard’s rig spread, Toyota asked what the million mile Tundra would be worth. For Toyota’s engineers and designers, such longevity offers great insight when considering future platforms.

In other words, it’s worth a lot.

Sheppard, the sole owner, put an average of 125,000 miles a year on his Tundra during long-haul trips. From his Louisiana home, Sheppard traveled between Virginia, Wyoming, and North Dakota for work. All of those miles meant routine maintenance and, over the course of nine years, Sheppard visited the service department at Greg LeBlanc Toyota 117 times.

In 2012, Sheppard’s Tundra was part of Toyota’s outdoor truck display the Texas State Fair in Dallas. This year, Toyota did one better and offered him did a straight up swap – his 2007 for a 2016. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. held a brief celebration at Greg Leblanc Toyota in Sheppard’s hometown of Houma, Louisiana.

Interestingly enough, this 2016 is also his 16th Tundra.

As Sheppard enjoys his new truck, Toyota will disassemble the 2007 Tundra. Every component of the engine, transmission, body, and chassis will be rigorously examined.

“Having a million-mile truck in as pristine condition as this one with original parts is a truly rare find,” said Mike Sweers, Toyota’s Chief Truck Engineer.

The process may take months but Toyota considers it a golden opportunity as they validate and enhance their engineering and manufacturing practices.

“Our team plans to teardown the entire truck, bumper-to-bumper, top-to-bottom to evaluate how the quality and safety we designed, engineered, and built into the Tundra has held up to over one million miles of real-world driving,” Sweers said.

Sheppard remains loyal to Toyota and continues to advocate the Tundra in particular.

“These trucks are safe and dependable,” he said.

*Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.

Photos & Source: Toyota

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About The Author

Carl represents automakers in their marketing and product development arms as a Vehicle Coach, Product Specialist, and Facilitator. He has worked with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Volvo, and Local Motors. Carl is the Immediate Past President of Detroit Working Writers and on the Board of Directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation. He enjoys a multitude of health and fitness activities and is a loyal Detroit Lions fan.

3 Comments on "Louisiana Man Celebrates Million Mile Toyota Tundra"

Wonderful to read about such an amazing feat. Surely engineers at Toyota would have a great time researching and learning factors and features that made such a long haul possible. Insights into this would be of great benefit to the industry in developing more durable vehicles in the future.

@James Roberts – you are correct and that is what Toyota is doing here. A truck like this is a rare find and so, whatever they did right building this particular truck, those engineers and designers and technicians that disassemble it will be looking diligently for any clues. Like you said, durable vehicles are the name of the game and whatever insights they find during the breakdown process will surely show up in future models.